Throttle control



1951 c. w. FINKL THROTTLE CONTROL Filed May 31, 1947 INVENTOR.

M M M Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a throttle control and more particularly to an improvement in an automatically closing, hand-operated throttle control for an internal combustion engine.

The invention as shown in the accompanying drawings is particularly adapted for use with an outboard motor boat. However, it will be understood that thi throttle control could be used, without departing from the inventive concepts thereof, in conjunction with any one of several other types of engines having hand controlled throttles.

It is an object of this invention to provide a throttle control which undernormal operating conditions will automatically close the throttle associated therewith when the operator removes his hand from the control.

It is another object of this invention to provide a throttle control having a throttle lever which can be selectively locked instantly by the operator in a plurality of open-throttle positions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a throttle control having a throttle lever with means associated therewith which will control a Bowden mechanism wire secured to a throttle without bending the Bowden control wire between the end of the Bowdenite casing and the throttle lever.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a throttle control having constantly available means for adjusting the retractile movement, fully retracted limit, and open-throttle positions of the throttle lever thereof without said means becoming obstructions to the free operation of the throttle lever.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a throttle control which may be mounted on eitherside of the operator and operable in either position without alteration or adjustment of any of the parts thereof or method of operation.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification, claims and drawings, of which there is one sheet in which like reference character are used to designate like parts, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a speed boat hull and motor showing the invention as associated therewith;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the invention showing same from the side opposite that of Figure l; I

Figure 3 is a view of the invention looking from below the invention;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the invention partially disassembled;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a portion of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of another portion of the invention.

Illustrated in Figure l is a speed boat outfit comprised generally of a hull 2 and an outboard motor 4. The invention, a throttle control (indicated generally at 8) for motor 4, is shown attached to hull 2 and is connected to throttle lever H) of motor 4 by a Bowden mechanism wire 8.

The casing of the throttle control 6 is comprised of a pair of identical right and left hand castings 12 which fit together to form a mounting means for the movable parts of the invention. Each of the castings l2 are provided with body portions having outwardly extending portions ll which are in turn provided with aligned notches 16 which form finger grip means for the operator. Each of the portions I4 is provided with a groove it along the length thereof.

Grooves 13 are aligned and provide an aperture extending from the outer ends 20 of portions hi to the inner cut-out portions 22 of castings i2. Centrally, each of the castings I2 is provided with a cut-out portion 22 (Figure 41) so that movable means may be operably mounted within castings [2 when the castings are positioned together as in Figure 3. Portions 22 are enclosed by the outer walls 24 of castings l2 except for a distance adjacent the rearward sides of portions l4 where walls 24 do not enclose portions 22 but are deleted and thus provide an aperture through which means to be described hereinafter may extend from within castings l2 when they are assembled.

Walls 24 of castings I2 are provided, near the bottom thereof, with adjoining grooves 26 which form an aperture extending rearwardly from portions 22 through walls 24. Grooves 26 are provided with enlarged portions 28 at the outer ends thereof. In the upper portion of walls 24 are provided another pair of adjoining grooves 30 having outer enlarged portions 32. Grooves-30, like grooves 25, extend rearwardly from portions 22 through walls 24. Aligned grooves 34 and 36 are formed in the walls 24 of each of the castings l2. Grooves 34 provide an aperture extending rearwardly through walls 24 and grooves 36 adjoin to form an aperture through the inwardly extending portions 38 of walls 24. Further, walls 24 are provided with a series of closely spaced adjoining grooves 40 which form apertures which extend generally downward through walls 24 from portions 22. w

A series of aligned pairs of apertures 42 ex- .-.zop.erator. portion 60. A cotter pin 62 extends through an tend through walls 24 of castings i2. One aperture 42 of each pair may be threaded internally so that a screwextending through the aperture aligned therewith may be turned into engagement with the threaded aperture to rigidly secure the castings l2 together as shown in Figure 3. A second series of pairs of aligned apertures it extend through walls 24 and screws or other suitable means may extend therethrough to secure is provided with a lower reduced :portion 56 which may be selectively positioned in any one of the-apertures formedby grooves d3 byrotating lever 46 to align portion 56 with one of said.

;;apertures and pressing rod .5 3 downwardly through lever 48. .Rod has an enlarged upper :portion'58 which forms-a finger button to facili- 'tatethe moving of rod 54 downwardly'by the Lever 46 is provided 'wth-a cutout aperture in rod 54 adjacent the upper wall of portion tllanda compression spring ts is i:=eiegscopicallypositioned around rod 54 between pin AGEa'ndthe lower wall of portion 553.

is? provided toconstantly urge rod 5d upward- 13! when portion 56 thereof is positioned in any one of the apertures formed by grooves 443.

Spring in the upper end of the aperture formed by grooves i 8= is positioned a rotatable rod 55 which '.has an enlargedupper end 68 abutting the upper ends of portions 14 and .a threaded hole iii-extending upwardly along its axis from the lower end thereof. Inthe lower portion of the :aperture formed by the grooves l8 ispositioned aired "l2 movable along its axisvin said aperture rand-having 1a reduced; threaded upper end it ;-turnedr.intoengagement-with threaded hole '18 of rod 66. .Rod 12 has an aperture 75 extending through the lowerend thereof.

A. tension spring l8 has its upper end hooked through aperture 76 of :rod 12 and its lower end ..hool :ed through "aperture Bil formed in the forward side of lever .46 and below the'center of iboltsa. Spring ifitendsto -rotate lever as in a counter-clockwise direction'around theaxis oi bolt 48 and tends to hold rod -54 in'a lower positon withportionlEG thereof in one of the tures formeclby grooves M by increasing the frictional engagement between portion '56 and the :walls of said aperture. 7 spring 1.8 makes 'it possible 'to set lever 46 in -any one-of several open-throttle positions and maintain said-position without manual control -as-the actionof spring is will prevent "the up- "ward"movement of rod 54iby spring 64 until This function of the "frictional engagement of portion 5'5 and the aperture is reduced by manual movement of V leverdii. The'tension of spring 18 is adjustable by manuallyturningrod 66. If hole 'Hlis provided with a conventional right hand thread,

clockwiseturning of rod as will pull rod l2 upwardly stretching'spring l8 and increasing the 'tension-ithereof 'on lever 46. ,"Counter-clockwise -turningof rod EEG-will, of course, decrease the r tension of spring m this manner means-for 4 holding the throttle lever in any one of several open-throttle positions is provided and means for selectively adjusting the tension or the throttle lever spring is provided.

The linkage between lever ii and Bowden mechanism 8 (Figure l) is comprised of 'identical pistons 82 movable in the apertures formed by grooves 26 and 39. Pistons at are drivingly connected by links 86 to lever Li as are pivotally connected to lever 6i; by'pln extending through aligned apertures in links 3% and lever 46.

The opposite ends or" links a. are pivotally connected to pistons 52 by pins 58 which extend through apertures in links 8 3 which are aligned with apertures ed (Figure ii) of pistons 82 Pistons 82 are provided wi h apertures 92 extending along the axis thereof and Bowden control wire 94 of Bowden mechanism .3 .is positioned in one of said apertures Sit and rigidly secured therein by set screws $13 which are turned into threaded apertures 22 which extend outwardly from apertures each of the pistons 52 for clarity.

l-n'liligure i a wire El i is shown associated with However, 'it wili be-understood that only one willbeused in actual operation and the provision or"v the two:.pistons 62, one connected to lever .45 on "one sideof bolt 48 and the other on the opposite side thereof, is made necessary as the throttle levers iii (Figure 1) on some motors operate in one direction and 'on others in theopposite direction. Thus, with the use of two pistons 32,

to pistons 82.

tions.

.oneof which is retracted whenthe other is extended, makes it possible to operate the various types of throttles by selectively connecting wire Further, the operation of lever 253 remains the same under any of these condi- TheBowden casing we of the Bowden mechanism wire 8 is rigidly secured to control 6 through its connection with cylindrical sleeve iilZ. Sleeve M22 is provided with an aperture :iii l extending along its axis in which the end otcasing Hill is positioned. Sleeve IOZis longitudinally split asat E05 (Figure 5) and thus means for squeezing sleeve 162 to frictional engagement with casing we is provided. Sleeve N32 is positioned within either of the apertures formed bygrooves 23 and 30; depending on which piston SZ'Wire-M is secured to, and is provided with an enlarged end W8 which is positioned in the enlarged-portions '28 and 32 of grooves26 andilfi'in abutment with walls 25 adjacent the *outer ends of grooves 26 and 39.

Sleeve m2 is held in position by set screws H9 (Figure 2) extending through threaded apertures in walls "213 to the apertures defined by grooves 26 and "35. The longitudinal axes of sleeve'ltl'the end of casing 'il'llil within-sleevelilZ, wire 94, the;

apertures defined by grooves 26 and 3e, and the pistons 82 are coincidental and thus when wire 9 5 is pulled or pushed by either-one of pistons '82, wire fi l will not be bent between casing 100 and pistons 82.

nected to'the leverlfi, as is commonly done, the,

If. wire 94 were directly conconnection therebetween would travel in an arc around the'center of bolt 48 which would cause constant bending of wire 94 and eventual .de-

struction thereof Limit means for the counter-clockwise rotation -of lever 45 is provided in'the form of a rod l l2 which extends from without walls'Zs through theapertures defined by grooves :34 andi35 to its inner end I M which abuts leverfi above bolt 48. 'Rod H2 may be'moved'along its axis' to vary access to the pistons 82 and associated parts 3 when in certain positions. This makes possible certain adjustments without separating cast,- ings [2.

The invention described above provides a throttle control which does not continually bend the 'Bowden control wire 94 as said wire is moved by the lever 46. Further, by providing linkage means between lever 46 and wire 94 both above and below the bolt 48, the control can be used with any motor regardless of which way the throttle thereof moves and the control because it has both upper and lower linkages may be placed on either side of the passenger compartment so as to accommodate both right and left handed operators. Further, the invention provides a safety mechanism for lever 46 inasmuch as portion 56 of rod 54 may be pressed down into any one of the pairs of grooves 40 to fix lever 46 in one position but as soon as lever 46 is moved, spring 64 will push rod 54 upwardly moving portion 56 out of the grooves 40 leaving lever 46 free to be moved counter-clockwise by spring 78 to closed position. This is possible because portion 56 is held in frictional engagement with the walls of grooves 40 by spring '18 against the weight of spring 64 and any movement of lever 46 will reduce or destroy this friction. The adjustment means for spring 18 is provided with a non-rising stem to avoid this mechanism from being in the way during normal operating conditions. As described above, the invention provides a stroke adjustment for lever 46 which provides as accurate stroke adjustment as is possible.

While I have described my invention in considerable detail, I intend this description to be an example only, and not a limitation on my invention, to which I make the following claims.

I claim:

1. A control mechanism comprising a mounting means, a lever rotatably secured near its center to said mounting means, resilient means for rotating said lever in one direction, a Bowden mechanism adapted to be selectively secured to said mounting means above and below the center 65 be selectively secured to said casing above and below the center of the lever, independent linkage means drivingly secured to said lever above and below the center or the lever for connecting the Bowden control of said Bowden mechanism and the lever, and guide means for said linkage means formed in said casing for controlling the movement thereof to permit said control wire to only move coaxially in relation to that part of the Bowden casing of said Bowden mechanism adjacent the casing.

3. A control comprising a casing, a lever rotatably mounted near its center in said casing, a resilient means for rotating said lever in one direction, an adjustable stop means for limiting the rotation of said lever by said resilient means, means for adjusting the rotating force" exerted by said resilient means, means coop erable with said casing for holding said lever in a fixed position, resilient means constantly urging the means cooperable with the casing out of cooperation therewith, a Bowden mechanism adapted to be secured to said casing above and below the center of said lever, and linkage means secured to the lever above and below the center thereof and designed to be secured to the Bowden control wire of the Bowden mechanism for moving same coaxially with that part of the Bowden mechanism secured to the casing.

4. In a control mechanism. a case means, a manually controllable lever mounted in said case and near the center thereof and rotatable substantially about its center to fully extended and fully retracted positions, adjustable resilient means constantly urging said lever to a fully retracted position, means mounted on said case means to adjust the fully retracted position of said lever, means carried by said lever and cooperable with the case means for holding said lever in any one of several positions between the fully extended and fully retracted positions thereof, slide means, guide means formed in said case means for positioning one of said slide means above and one below the center of rotation of said lever and to guide said slide means in a straight line, link. means connecting each of the slide means with said lever one above and one below the center of rotation of the lever, 21. Bowden mechanism secured to said case means coaxially with the slide means, and means for securing the Bowden control wire of the Bowden mechanism to either of said slide means.

CHARLES W. FINKL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

